Wow…just Wow. This is such a valuable, thoughtful, comprehensive, and well organized piece of work! This is a loving tribute to your adopted home, and I’m looking forward to checking out tons of your suggestions on our motorbike ride the northeast in December/January. I’m so impressed, and so thankful for your putting together this guide.

The current plan for the Vietnam leg of the trip has us arriving in Hanoi in the 1st week of March (after 2 weeks in the south).

I’ve had conflicting advice on Hanoi/Halong Bay at that time of year…

Some suggest it is likely to be cool & wet – in which case, we might stick to the south and Hue/Hoi An (deferring Hanoi/Halong until a future visit).

Others suggest it’s not too bad in the north in early March, and try to encourage us to book our Halong/Bai Tu Long cruises now.

Another option – if it is really hard to predict the weather in early March months in advance – would be to book the Hanoi hotel but not book any Halong/Bai Tu Long cruises until we get a better idea of the weather trends a week or so beforehand…

Tom
What a fantastic resource you have put together here! I am an Australian lucky enough to have dec and jan off each year. I have been to Vietnam a few times now , but never done the motorbike adventure. I have now had my Australian motorbike license for 10 months, ride everyday to work, now I am ready. What I would like to do is do some adventures north of Hanoi nut I am a little worried about the weather. I would be leaving Hanoi on the 10 December and get back to Hanoi 2 weeks later. It’s not the cold weather that would worry me, nut the idea of snow, mist and fog? Not too sure.

After the north I would take the Ho Chi Minh road and end in Da Nang. This is option 1.

Other option is to go south from Hanoi via Ho Chi Minh road and end up at Plieku. Then make my way across the border into Cambodia and get to Siem Reap, one of my favourite places. After Siem reap off to Ho Chi Minh. Trouble here is that I have not seen much info on this route to Siem Reap, the conditions of roads etc.

It’s likely to be quite cold in the northern mountains at that time of year, especially on the high passes on a motorbike. Mist, fog and cloud is always an issue in those highlands, at any time of year, so there’s not much you can do about that. Personally, I avoid that area during the winter because I don’t like cold. But lots of riders do visit those northern mountains in December/January and love it. In fact, it’s one of the peak times of year for riders in the north.

Your second option is OK, but I don’t know about the road conditions to Siem Reap either.

In general, at that time of year, the best weather is anywhere south of Nha Trang. So if I was going to choose between your two suggested routes during your dates, I would go for option 1 and ride the northern mountains. Just remember to pack some warms clothes.

Hi Tom. I bumped into your beautiful and interesting site just now. So much amazing detailed info .
we want to get to pu luong in mid september. we are a family of 2 adaults and 2 kids age 11 and 13 so we will not use bikes…
Do you know any other option to get there?
can you get somewhere with a bus or local driver and then have a guide take us trekking?
cheers
yarden

You should be able to arrange transportation to Mai Chau from Hanoi pretty easily, either through your hotel or any Hanoi-based travel agency. Then I would hire a car and driver from Mai Chau (again, you could use a Hanoi travel agency for this) to take you into Pu Luong Nature Reserve and from homestay to homestay.

Hi Tom,
I got your guide recommended from another bike rider on my way thru Vietnam. He told me that he copied your maps me pins in his maps.me. I tried everything to do the same with my phone (iPhone) but couldn’t work it out how.
THANKS for all the nice advices and your work behind it. It’s so good!

We love reading your site and last year took your recommendations for accomodation in Ho Chi Minh – The Myst ( out of this world) and Lasenta – Hoi An – also impressive.
This year we are booking the Impressive hotel in Hanoi . Then heading back down to the Lasenta for two nights (train from Hanoi to Da Nang.)
We have another 6 nights in that area unplanned. We are not bike riders but would like your recommendations for this area.
We had thought Lang Co but can’t find much on the area.
We wanted to stay within 100 kmish of Da Nang.
Love to hear your advice.
Maddie

Lang Co is OK – there are some very high-end resorts, such as the Banyan Tree, which is nice but expensive. But I prefer to go a little further to Dam Cau Hai Lagoon. Vedana Lagoon Resort is great for a couple of nights on the lake. And you could combine that with a couple nights are The Pilgrimage near the Royal Tombs by Hue, or Villa Hue in Hue City. Those are all fabulous accommodations. I’ve stayed there with family and friends and really enjoyed them and the local surrounds.

Hello Tom, once Congratulations to your beautiful website. I want to the Beach gate of Saigon after huế driving with my wife. I can of Beach route to Ho Chi Minh route drive? by which city from I come best to Ho Chi Minh route?

Do you mean which are the best roads that connect the coast with the Ho Chi Minh Road? If so, there are lots to choose from: for example, QL49 from Hue to A Luoi, or QL14B/QL14E from Danang/Hoi An to Thanh My/Kham Duc, or QL24 from Quang Ngai to Kon Tum.

Thank you so much for your wonderful share on vietnam road trip. Im going to hanoi on 6th March for road trip to saigon in 12 days. Ive did my planning on where to stay and t daily travelling distance based on google maps. I have few questions and hope you can help me with it.

1. Is that reliable to depend on google maps for estimation?
2.At the max i will b travelling 350 km in a day. Is it possible to complete in single day time and not going till sunset?
3. How is the road safety and is it dangerous?
4. If my bike break down at any point how easy is it to get it fixed?
5. Getting local phone line is worth it? How is the gps connectivity throughout the journey. I have not decided which route to take but just by finding it in google maps my journey will b around 2,500 KM. I did saw ur post on 5 route but i need to study it.

Hope you can give me some info on those matters and really appreciate your support.

You can’t trust Google for time estimations or routes – it does not take into account road quality. If you use Google to plan your route you will miss a lot of good roads and scenery. All the routes on my website are designed to be the most scenic, with the least traffic, and staying on good quality road surfaces as much as possible – I suggest you browse through my Motorbike Routes Archive to work out which routes you want to follow, and build your itinerary from that.

It’s definitely worth getting a local SIM card – they only cost around $5 and using data on the road will help you a lot – using GPS with Google Maps.

350km is a long ride for one day in Vietnam. In general, your average speed will be about 50km an hour, but in the more mountainous regions it will be even less than that. So to ride 350km in one day you will need to start early in the morning. It gets dark at around 6pm in most places in Vietnam.

The cities and highways can be dangerous in Vietnam, especially because the local driving culture is quite chaotic. But once you are in the countryside the roads are quite quiet and relatively safe. Again, my routes try to stay on quiet roads and avoid busy main highways as much as possible.

In Vietnam you’re never that far from a motorbike repair shop. Look for the word ‘sửa xe’ which means mechanic.

I use your website as a resource for my bicycle (push bike) trip from south to north. So far I’ve made it as far as Phong Nha and plan on continuing to follow DHCM all the way. I’m wondering if the same brutal hills will follow me all the way, or does the landscape kind of flatten out a bit from here (Phong Nha) on North? It’s pretty crucial to know the topo when it comes to cycle touring and strategy.

Yes, to a certain extent the worst of the hill climbs are behind you. However, there’s still a pretty brutal 80km or so just after Phong Nha, after which the general topography flattens out a bit. But it’s certainly not easy. However, if you’ve made it this far I would imagine that in general you will have no problem continues along this route to Hanoi. Remember also that the weather may get colder as you get further north.

Hi Tom
I’m in your debt for this wonderful resource as I’m planning a motorbike trip in March from Hanoi to Saigon and onto Phnon Penh. Just wondered if I should do the Saigon to Phuc Quoc loop that takes you back to Saigon (and catch the bus from Saigon to Phnon Penh) or do one side of the loop (which one) and take the bike from Phuc Quoc to Phnon Penh if I can or at least the border?

I think you can take the bike across the border at Ha Tien (which is also where the ferries go to Phu Quoc), so I would take the westerly route from the Saigon to Phu Quoc guide and then take it from there. For more about Ha Tien see this guide.

Hi Tom,
Just this morning I thought of traveling to Vietnam for three weeks coming March, and was lucky to hit your site which is very informative and useful, though I still need to go through all the emails and your responses to them,
I intend taking a road trip and have the following queries please and seek your assistance.
1. Which route covers the maximum ‘must see places’ in Vietnam; as well as covers the mountains as well as the beaches.
2. I am quite comfortable riding a bike, but is there any chance of getting a car or a camper for the trip.
3. Is it convenient to find home stays, back packers hostels along the route, or is hotels the only option. I prefer these to hostels.
4. I would be traveling solo, how safe would that be.
5. Is there a possibility to find like minded travel partners for the road trips,.
6. What kind of comfortable budget must one be planning on a three week trip.
7. Which bike would you recommend which is stable on the road and has power as well.
8. Does one need an international driving licence for riding a bike.
My apologies , if that was too much to ask, may have some more as well 🙂
Thank you for the good job you are doing in assisting the travellers with your experience.
Surinder Mann
India

For a choice of routes take a look at my 5 Suggested Routes from Saigon to Hanoi. Some of them cover the mountains and the coast. And then for the northern mountains, take a look at my Northern Routes Archive.

At the moment, foreigners are not allowed to rent cars.

In the bigger towns and cities you can always find lots of hotels and hostels, but in smaller places you can find ‘nhà nghỉ’ – these are local Vietnamese guest houses – you can read more about them here.

Yes, travelling solo in Vietnam should be fine. It is still a very safe country to travel in. Just take all the normal safety precautions you would when travelling in any other country and you should be fine.

You will probably meet other riders on your road trip and in the towns you stop at. You can also post on the Vietnam Back Road Facebook page if you want to find other people to travel with.

I’ve written a guide to expenses for a motorbike road trip in Vietnam here.

There are lots of bikes to choose from. Personally, I use an automatic scooter, which is fine for all the routes on this website. But some people prefer a semi-automatic, or a bigger bike that can also go off-road. Try contacting some of the trusted and reliable motorbike rental companies listed in the right sidebar and bottom of every page of my website to see what bikes are available. Try Rent a Bike Vietnam, Tigit Motorbikes, and Dragon Bikes. You can mention Vietnam Coracle if you like, they know me.

Technically you need a local driving license to ride in Vietnam, but in reality very few foreigners riding in Vietnam have one. You can ask for more information about this from the rental companies too.

Hello Tom,
I just bumped in your extraordinary site on Vietnam. Thanks for the time you spend so we can enjoy all the knowledge that you accumulated over the years.
Just to make a long story short: We are a couple with 130 years of combined life experience (ha ha ha). We travel the world for the last 4 years with our Landcruiser which took us in most remote places. However, we cannot travel in Vietnam as our car has a right hand wheel which is not allowed in Vietnam.
Here comes in the bike. Both of us have no experience with riding a motorcycle even very little as a back sitter. We have no licence. My wife is rushing now to get her licence for 125cc. I cannot get a licence as I am amputee above the knee (left leg) . I am 85 kg 184 cm height, my wife is 65 kg 168 height. Our plan is to ride for 7 weeks from South to North starting on December 20,2017
Questions:
1. What is the semi-automatic or automatic motorbike that you would recommend and the company to rent from in Ho Chi Minh and return it in Hanoi area?
2. Bothers me that sitting in the back with a prosthesis might be difficult. Any comments if you have some experience on this issue?
3. Any comments on our lack of riding experience in regard to riding in Vietnam?
4. Which route (from the 5 recommended) would you recommend considering our riding skills (or maybe lack of skills) and time frame? We are more interested in scenery and local culture less in beaches.

Thanks a lot for you prompt response if possible as we fly on December 20
Regards,
Israel

With 7 weeks on the road you should have plenty of time to get used to riding a motorbike in Vietnam. However, you should be extremely careful on the roads, especially in big cities. Unfortunately, by far the busiest part of any north-south route is leaving Hanoi. But after the first day, the traffic will be much lighter and you should start to feel more and more confident and comfortable on the roads.

It terms of weight, the bike should be able to handle it fine, as long as it’s in good condition. Automatics are easier to ride for a first timer because there are no gears and no foot brake. But if you are used to driving a manual car then perhaps you will feel more at home with a manual motorbike. Take a look at the recommended and trusted bike rental companies listed in the right sidebar and bottom of this page (and every page of my website). Try contacting any of them – Flamingo, Dragon Bikes, Tigit, Rent a Bike and looking at the kind of bikes they have. You can mention Vietnam Coracle if you like, they know me.

Age shouldn’t be a problem either – my parents are in their 70s and they come on road trips with me every year. But again, don’t underestimate the danger of Vietnam’s roads – take it very slowly and carefully. You might feel quite vulnerable for the first couple of days, but providing you stay safe, you will start feeling much better after that.

Riding pillion with a prosthetic leg could be an issue, but I’m sure you are used to making adjustments for specific situations. You might be interested to watch a recent BBC program about a group of physically challenged people riding and driving across Vietnam – you can watch it here.

I think if you are not interested in beaches and you are first time riders you should consider the Uncle Ho’s Road route, and maybe combine it with the Classic and the Easy Rider routes once you are south of Hue for some variety. This is because these routes are relatively easy to follow and spend most of the time on the Ho Chi Minh Road which is generally less busy.

Remember that December/January can be quite cold and bleak in many areas from Hue to Hanoi. South of Nha Trang the weather should be good at that time of year.

Hi Tom
I live in a little place call Maple Ridge in British Colombia Canada.
I have travelled thru many many countries but never did keep any diary or journals, and then one day i was surfing the net and happen to hit your website…..WOW……(that was about a month ago).
I have really enjoyed reading about your trips and “adventures” next thing I am planning to make a trip to Vietnam.
How crazy is that. I will keep you updated. My trip will probably be in Feb 2018.
Truly inspirational. THANK YOU
Al

Hi Tom,
So so glad i stumbled across your page. My name is Huyen, but I go by Kathy since I was 14 years old. I am Canadian Vietnamese. I left Vietnam since I was 5 years old and escaped the country as boat people with my family. I will be going back to Vietnam literally in 10 days. I have been back there a couple of times, but the first time I just stayed mostly in Hai Phong, in the North of Vietnam at my Dad’s place, then flew into Saigon (Ho Chi Minh). I did swung by Ha Noi for a day, Ha Long Bay for half of a day as well as Nha Trang and Vung Tau for a day each and I also went with friends at the time so I didn’t really get to experience much. This up coming trip is big deal for me and will be an epic trip for me. I will be there for a little over three weeks. This time around I am traveling alone and I am planning to go from the Saigon all the way up to the North to Sapa. Hope it will be enough time do visit all the places that I planned to hit. Reading through your blogs on your site I feel like i have a tour guide. I have done extensive research for this trip and i have to say your site is awesome! Keep it up and thank you for loving Vietnam and for sharing all that you know. Where about are you located by the way. Do you have a youtube channel or a Facebook page as well by chance?
Looking forward to reading more of your experience and adventure.
To the love of travelling,
Kathy

Thanks for your message. It’s great to hear you like my site, and that you’ll be coming back to Vietnam again soon. I hope you enjoy your travels across the country – I’m sure you will.

I’m located in Saigon, but I move around a lot for research (and for fun too, of course). Sure, I have a Youtube channel here and a Facebook page here, although I’ve been pretty bad at adding new videos lately 🙂

Hello, Tom!
My name is Ronke, and I live and work in Hanoi since 2015.
Having a strong sense of adventure, I try as much as I can to travel around the country to explore its hidden gems.
I needed to let you know that I’m infinitely grateful, and needed to thank you immensely for your travel guide which I now regard as my personal holy travel resource!
My wish is to meet you in person! You sound like an amazingly adventurous person, a fond quality, and what a talented writer your are! Ok, you got it, I’m your biggest fan! I’m writing this comment on Ong Lang Beach – Mango Bay Resort, thanks to your guide to exploring Phu Quoc by motorbike!
Thank you so much!

I’m not sure about that. Usually getting out of Vietnam across the border with a bike is fine, but getting into Vietnam with a bike is more difficult. However, I don’t have that much experience of this particular scenario, so perhaps you could post your question on the Vietnam Back Roads Facebook page to see if anyone can help you there.

Hi and thanks for a great website and information. I am arriving into Ho Chi MIn 14/03/2017 for my first visit to Vietnam. I will most likely take the train to Danang or onto Hanoi. I have a 30 day tourist visa and am travelling solo. I am not sure what is best whether I should try to rent a motor bike in Danang and ride to Hanoi to tour the northern region of Vietnam or rent a bike in Hanoi and spend more time in the north. I love mountain scenery, but not sure what is best. Do you have any suggestions? I hope to come back in future, so what I miss this time around will try to complete another time. Being my first visit, I am no doubt an underling in Vietnam, so not sure really. Thanks for your assistance.

There is a lot of mountain scenery either way. However, although the north has the biggest and most spectacular mountain scenery in Vietnam, because it is your first time in Vietnam, I would suggest that you start your road trip from Danang and head inland first and then north. This way you will avoid having to confront the chaotic traffic of Hanoi on your first day on the road: the traffic getting out of Danang is much less intense, and it’s very easy to get to the mountains from there.

I suggest you rent your bike in Danang (try Tigit Motorbikes or Rent a Bike Vietnam – they both have offices in Danang) and take Road QL14B west to Thanh My. Here you can join the Ho Chi Minh Road heading north to A Luoi, Khe Sanh, Phong Nha, and then all the way to Hanoi, or head west from Ngoc Lac or Cam Thuy if you want to continue riding to the mountains in the northwest. If you follow this route you will have lots of great mountain scenery, and good, fairly quiet roads to ride. (See sections 3-8 of my Ho Chi Minh Road guide) And then, as you say, the next time you come back to Vietnam you can ride the northern mountains.

Hi Tom
Your content is fantastic. I am planning (1st time to Viet Nam) 3 weeks in January 2017. Flying in and out of Da Nang. I will happily follow any leads you have in terms of bike rental and accommodations, etc during my trip.

I am reading all your pages but any direct advice will be much appreciated and I will try to get you some commission$.
Thanks Buddy!
Scott

For bike rental in Danang, check out Rent a Bike Vietnam and Tigit Motorbikes – they both have offices in Danang. There are links to both of them in the right sidebar and bottom of all my pages. You can mention Vietnam Coracle if you like, they know me.

The weather in January can be a little cool and rainy in Danang. In general at that time of year it’s best to travel in the south of the country: anywhere south of Nha Trang is the dry season with good weather conditions. So take a look at my southern guides to get an idea of the kind of routes you could ride. For more information about weather read this.

I am similar to this post. I arrive in Hanoi on Jan 19 and travel south.
I have been traveling thailand for the last 30 days. I have a backpack. Any tips on how to mount this on a bike so i can ride more comfortably without having it on my back.

Simliar to this post as i will be booking accomadations off of your links. Site is amazing and as well made me feel quite comfortable after readin all the scary opinions about biking Vietnam.

Yes, you can strap your backpack to the back of your motorbike using bungee cords. Or when you rent or buy motorbikes from the three companies that I recommend (Rent a Bike Vietnam, Tigit Motorbikes, and Style Motorbikes) they will usually include a metal rack on the back of your bike or saddles bags. You can find links to all three of the rental companies in the right sidebar and bottom of all my pages. You can mention Vietnam Coracle if you like, they know me.

That would be great if you can book some of your accommodation through my website. Thanks.

This site is amazing. So much information. There is so much to see and this is causing me to have a hard time deciding where to go on my upcoming trip (first time!) to Vietnam. I was wondering if you could help?

The original idea was the my husband and I were going to meet our friend from New Zealand in Hanoi and travel to Saigon by motorcycle. We arrive in Hanoi on Dec 27th and we are there for about 16 days so the more we thought about this the more I decided biking the whole way in so little time might not be the best idea. So I wanted to share what we are thinking our itinerary will look like so far and get your feedback, if you don’t mind, on what we should add or leave out. We are pretty open and up for a bit of adventure as well.

Dec 27: Arrive in Hanoi and get oriented- that evening take the night train to Sapa
Dec 28: Find bikes and begin the loop tour you recommend here
Dec 30: Make our way back to Sapa and take the night train back to Hanoi
Dec 31: Spend NYE in Hanoi (Not sure if this is a good spot for this- we are open)
Jan 1 or 2: Get down to Hue
Jan 2 or 3: Find bikes and take the Hoi Van Pass to Hoi An
Jan 4: Hang out in Hoi An
From there I am not sure if we should go to Nha Trang abd Dalat or go inland a bit or how we should travel there. Recommendations would be lovely. We eventually have to end up in HCM for our flight home on Jan 11th so there is time to fit a couple places in. I have read mixed things about trying to fit the Mekong Delta in with so little time, as well as Halong Bay but if there is anything that you think we will regret missing please let me know.
Last thing- is it very important to book accommodation ahead of time? I am assuming because of the time of year we are going that it is but if we can leave some things a little more open that would be awesome.

That’s a lot to fit into your time in Vietnam, but it is possible, as long as you don’t mind being on the move all the time. Something you should bear in mind is that, although finding a motorbike to rent is fairly easy, it can sometimes take a bit of time to get everything settled – negotiating prices, bikes, and leaving some sort of collateral, such as a copy of your passport. So, if possible, try to arrange your bikes a day before you set off on them.

That goes for the rest of your travel arrangements, like trains, planes and hotels, because this is a peak time of year for foreign tourists in Vietnam. Try to book as much of the above as possible before you get to Vietnam – it will make your tight schedule easier to deal with.

With the time you have and considering everything else you’ll be doing on your trip, I don’t recommend taking a side trip to the Mekong Delta.

After Hoi An, I would suggest taking a train down to Nha Trang. From here you can motorbike down the Ocean Road back to Saigon. You can arrange your motorbike in advance from Tigit Motorbikes (there’s a link to them in the right sidebar of this page) and return the bike to them in Saigon. Or if you want to zig-zag between the coast road and the mountains around Dalat, take a look at this route.

If you’d like to support my website, may I ask that you book your hotels through this site? It’s exactly the same process (and price) as booking through Agoda, but if you making a book I receive a small commission (at no extra cost to you) which goes straight back into this website. All you have to do is start your hotel search or booking through any of the Agoda search boxes or links on my site, or just click here which takes you to the Vietnam Agoda page. You can read a bit more about this here.

Hi Tom,
Thank you for your reply.
Yes it is a lot. It’s difficult to know what to take out.
Do you think considering it will be late December that Sapa will be worthwhile? Or even if it is will it be worth riding the loop?
The routes from nha trang to Saigon look awesome. Thanks for the tips. I assume the ocean road is shorter than the one through Dalat so with timing i am sure we will go with that.
I can definitely try to book all of my hotels through here. I’m more than happy to support! The sites a great help.
Cheers,
Joanne

I intend to ride my CFR250 from Singapore to China and spend more time in Vietnam, from August to September 2017 next year. Appreciate very much if you could provide me some information on motor bike shops available along the way. I’ll be riding solo and just started planning, hope to cover some interesting routes provided by you, before i proceed to Mong Cai. FYI i will start from HCMC to Hanoi.

I might need to change my tires there, because my last experienced three weeks in Thailand it lasted less than 4000km on my sports bike. Your feedback is very important for my planning. Hope to hear from you soon. Many Thanks and I’ve already subscribed..

Hi Tom
your newsletter was passed on to me by a good mate who lived for years in Nha Trang and recently returned to Adelaide. He motored all over central VN and sent me some interesting stories of his travels. I recently spent a week motorbiking along the Mekong down in the delta. I have plans at some stage to do route 14, Dalat then Nha Trang.
Keep up the good work. yes…i have subscribed..!!
Julius

Love your site! I had the pleasure of traveling to Vietnam last year and stayed for a whole month! This was my first international trip! I am very lucky to have a sister in-law who grew up in Vietnam. Beautiful Country, amazing food and found the Vietnamese people warm, loving and some of the most resourceful talented people I’ve ever witnessed! I had the pleasure of avoiding the tourist traps and was introduced to the real culture of this beautiful country. Travelled from all the way South to the middle of Central…and so looking forward to returning to continue from where I left off and travel all the way North. Thank you for bringing attention to this beautiful Country. I really enjoyed reading your spot on perspective!!

Thanks! Great to hear that you had such a positive experience of Vietnam when you were here, and that you managed to get off the beaten path too. I hope it won’t be too long before you get the chance to return for a northern itinerary – there’s lots more to see and experience there 🙂

Tom oi
I just notice your site this morning, and I have only read the Phan Ranh – Cam Ranh route yet.
I fully agree that this is an extremely nice route, which I have taken 3 times during since October 15. The reason that is not well known, is that the road from Khanh Son, Khanh Hoa to Tan Son, Ninh Hoa is not on any Google Maps, and I remember in October when asking the locals in the Khanh Son area, if I could drive that way, they said no! Irrespective of the no, I went through down to AH1 without any problems. Last time I went that way was in February during/after heavy rain, and the road that disappeared into the river many places, however, they worked hard to repair it. My next tour there will likely be in 3 weeks.
I like what you are writing, however, there is one thing I was puzzled about, namely you call it the Cai River. According to my information then the Cai River starts in Dak Lak and ends in Nha Trang at the Tran Phu Bridge. The river ending in Cam Ranh is Dinh River. Furthermore the route you describe is Khanh Hoa and Ninh Thuan, the border somewhere between Khanh Son and Tan Son, easily to note, as the quality of the road all of a sudden improve in Ninh Thuan – I am always driving anti-clock wise, as I come from Nha Trang.
I am like your efforts to describe the various routes – I have a few without description, as I like to drive around taking photos of mainly the people and special landscapes.
erik

Thanks, I’m glad you enjoyed reading the guide and it’s good to hear that you have ridden the River Road from Cam Ranh to Phan Rang before.

The road from Tan Son to Khanh Son is now shown on Google Maps but it only appears as a small road, not a main road. This usually happens when an existing road is upgraded to a larger, better surfaced road, such as this one: it takes Google Maps a little while to catch up! 🙂

I’m surprised you had heavy rain in February – that area is famous for being dry in the winter months.

Yes, there are a number of different rivers in Vietnam called ‘Cai’. But the Cai River in my guide starts in the hills behind Cam Ranh and then flows into the sea at Phan Rang. The road follows the Cai River most of the way – especially between Tan Son and Khanh Son.

Hi Tom,
Found your site whilst researching Saigon for a weekend ‘visa run’ from Bangkok, where we are both teachers. It’s great, and really useful and informative. Looking forward to getting down to Chicken Corner and trying it out.
Keep up the great work
Yours
David and Lucy

That’s great! Glad to hear you enjoy my site. I hope you’ll like ‘Chicken Corner’. There’s a great bún mắm near the chicken too, if you’re not too full 🙂 Plus, you shouldn’t miss cơm tấm while in Saigon. I know Thailand has its own excellent desserts, but if you want to try it here then take a look at chè.

Hi, fantastic blog, really good information..
Just a question, was looking at flying into Hanoi and catching a train to Lao Cai. I am really impressed about the Sapa route, so I intend on doing that. How is the transport from Lao Cai to Sapa?

Yes, transport from Lao Cai to Sapa is good and very regular. There are minivans from Lao Cai train station to Sapa that meet the train. It takes around 40 minutes to get there. Or you can easily take a taxi, or organize transport through your Sapa hotel, if you’ve booked a room in advance.

Hi Tom,
Just spent some time on your site – recommended by a friend, it is an awesome source of info. and great pictures!!
We are taking a motorbike trip to Hanoi area in November and will most likely do the Northern Loop as you have laid out. I really can’t wait to eat at the Noodle House and meet Duyen! We have done trips prior to this in Thailand and Cambodia and have always wanted to visit Vietnam, something tells me it won’t be my last trip here.
Thanks so much for this great source! I have subscribed to your newsletter.
Tom G.
Agawam, Massachusetts USA